In 1938, at the height of his career, acclaimed American Modernist Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) was commissioned by Fortune magazine to explore the theme of power in a series of works to be reproduced as a portfolio in the magazine.

Jean-Léon Gérôme was among the most famous and most reproduced artists during the second half of the 19th century. His history paintings, which focused on themes of antiquity, European history, or orientalism, were admired by large crowds every year at the Salon. Gérôme married the daughter of the Paris dealer and art publisher Adolphe Goupil, who established a successful branch of his gallery in New York in 1846.